From individualism to hope: rethinking probation practice through social forms of hope - Dr Jake Phillips

As part of the Institute of Criminology Michaelmas Term 2025 Public Seminar Series, on 20 November Dr Jake Phillips spoke on From Individualism to Hope: Rethinking Probation Practice through Social Forms of Hope.

The language of hope has become increasingly common in criminological research, particularly in theories of desistance, recovery, and strength-based interventions. In these frameworks, hope is typically framed as a psychological resource; an internal trait that individuals must summon to support personal change (Snyder et al., 2002). In this presentation I shall explore the concept of hope as it occurs in probation practice. Initially, it will be argued that individualistic forms of hope are poorly served by a probation service which is managerial, punitive and risk-focused in nature. I will then move beyond individualistic and psychological forms of hope to think about how hope could be conceptualised in more social and political ways. Drawing on traditions of critical, radical, and collective hope, it will be argued that hope is not simply a personal trait to be cultivated but a relational and resistant practice shaped by structures of inequality and institutional coercion. Through qualitative analysis of 47 interviews and focus groups with current and former probation practitioners and people on probation, I will consider how hope emerges through acts of care, imaginative resistance, and solidarity. Ultimately, the presentation will argue that a social model of hope offers a framework for a more ethically responsive and politically aware probation practice that is grounded in recognition, connection and shared possibility.

Jake Phillips is Associate Professor and Director of the MSt Applied Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, Cambridge. He has carried out research across the criminal justice system with particular expertise in the field of probation and the intersection between policy and practice. He is currently involved a comparative study of penal supervision and has carried out research on emotional labour, people who die whilst under supervision, inspection, the concept of hope in probation and staff wellbeing. He is editor of Probation Journal, on the editorial boards of British Journal of Criminology and Associate Editor at Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Catch up with the recording of the lecture here.